The Endless Musical Magic of John Williams
He’s been called the greatest film composer in history. In fact, there’s hardly anyone who can’t hum at least a few bars from the “Star Wars” theme, “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, “Superman” or “Harry Potter”.
With 54 Academy Award nominations and 5 wins, 25 Grammy awards, 4 Golden Globes and multiple other awards and distinctions, John Williams is probably the most recognizable film composer of all times, and one of the most prolific too.
Born in Queens, New York, in 1932, his father was the noted percussionist John Francis Williams, member of the Raymond Scott Quintette. In 1947, the family moved to Los Angeles, where John Francis worked in film soundtracks. This allowed him to work with some of the greatest names in the film music, including Bernard Herrmann - composer of musical scores for “Citizen Kane”, “Vertigo” and “Psycho”, among others- and years later became an important contact for his son’s career.
Having started his musical training at an early age, John Jr. took music courses at the University of California in Los Angeles while still in high school, as well as with musicians in the study where his father worked. He also organized a student jazz group, and was briefly known as “Curly” Williams, to distinguish himself from his father.
In 1951, after graduating from High School, John was drafted by the U.S. Air Force. As part of his service, he played piano and brass, conducted and arranged music, and attended some music courses at the University of Arizona.
The experience not allowed him to study and play with some fine musicians, but also tested his hand at composing for the first time, with the piece “You’re welcome” created in 1952 for a promotional short film.
After leaving the Air Force, John moved to New York, to study music at Juilliard, and also at the Eastman School of Music. In his spare time, he worked as a jazz pianist at the different clubs in the city.
Once graduated, and holding substantial musical experience, John moved back to Los Angeles. His pianist abilities landed him a job as a film and TV session musician. However, his musical talent was soon discovered and, in addition to being a studio pianist, he took over the roles of music arranger, orchestrator, and scores composer.
His background on jazz music first opened him the doors for comedic fare, composing his first feature film score in 1958 for the comedy “Daddy-O”. However, his musical abilities went beyond jazz, and he later shifted to westerns and period dramas.
At around this time, Williams had the chance to work with famed film composer Henri Mancini. In addition to playing the piano solo for the “Peter Gunn” theme (1959), Williams sessioned with Mancini in the scores for the films “Days of Wine and Roses” (1962) and “Charade” (1963).
By then, John Williams was quickly becoming a rising name in the industry, and began to receive commissions to compose scores for TV series. Some of his most famous where the main themes for “Lost in Space” (1965), “Time Tunnel” (1966), and “Land of the Giants” (1968), as well as the pilot episode of “Gilligan’s Island”.
Video: Lost in Space (0:57)
https://youtu.be/tQzk09j2lZ8
Williams’ versatility to navigate different music styles and produce
catchy tunes became his trademark, and he began receiving more ambitious
commissions.
In 1967, his score for the film “Valley of the
Dolls” got him his first Academy Award nomination. He received a second
Academy Award nomination in 1969 for his “Goodbye Mr. Chips”score. In
1971 he received two Academy Award nominations: one for his original
score for the western “The Reivers”, and another for his score of
“Fiddler on the Roof”. This latter earned him his first Oscar win.
His
following commissions seemed to pigeonhole Williams in the ‘disaster
film’ realm: “The Poseidon Adventure” (1972), “The Towering Inferno”
(1974), and “Earthquake” (1974). However, these films - and specially
his music for “The Reivers”- captured the attention of young filmmaker, Steven Spielberg, who contacted him to commission him the score for his film “The Sugarland Express”(1974).
The
next collaboration with Spielberg was “Jaws” (1975), which earned
Williams a new Oscar win. Since then, the team director-composer have
seldom separated, with Williams scoring 28 out of 32 of Spielberg’s
films to date.
It was Spielberg who, in 1977, suggested Williams to his friend George Lucas, for a Sci-Fi film he was wrapping at the time.
Inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s “2001", Lucas wanted a ‘classical’ score reminiscent of the adventure films of Hollywood’s golden age, and Williams -classically trained, and familiar with the works of Max Steiner and Erich W. Korngold, two of the most famous Hollywood composers of the golden age - knew exactly what to do.
The rest, as they say, is history.
The 1977 “Star Wars”score became the heart and soul of the film, contributing to its success and bringing Lucas’ film to a new dimension. In addition to topping the charts and selling millions of copies -a phenomenon rarely seen for film scores-, Williams’ suite was named the greatest film score of all time by the American Film Institute, and became ingrained in the popular culture, appearing on countless media, from commercials to video games, and even covered as a Disco tribute by Meco.
The next collaborations with Spielberg and Lucas included an impressive list of films featuring some of the most instantly-recognisable scores, including all 9 films of the “Star Wars” Saga (from 1977 to 2019, a non-parallel record in the film music industry), “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981) and its sequels, “E.T. The Extraterrestrial” (1982), “Empire of the Sun” (1987), “Always” (1989), “Hook” (1991), “Jurassic Park” (1993), and “Schindler’s List” (1997), to name a few.
In addition to these, Williams composed other memorable scores, including “Superman The Movie” (1978), “The Witches of Eastwick”(1987), “Born on the Fourth of July” (1989), “Far and Away” (1992), “Seven Years in Tibet” (1997), “Home Alone” (2001), “Catch me if you can” (2002), “Memoirs of a Geisha”(2005), among many others.
In 1983, John Williams was commissioned to write the opening score for the Summer Olympic Games to be held in Los Angeles in 1984. While his fame as blockbuster film composer had something to do with this choice, it was his ability to encapsulate the American spirit into uplifting compositions the main reason for this commission.
With a strong military influence, and reminiscent of his work for “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “E.T”., the score, the Olympic Fanfare, is an inspirational march evoking the Olympic spirit of all competitors, and the origin of the games in ancient Greece.
It was such a success that he received new commissions for the Winter Olympic Games of 1988 (The Olympic Spirit), The Summer Olympic Games of 1996 (Summon the Heroes), and the Winter Olympic Games of 2001 (Call of the Champions).
Video: Olympic Fanfare (4:20)
https://youtu.be/whNaZoqucZc
In regards to his frequent use of strong brass and percussion, Williams has declared that it’s the only way for the music to be heard above the din of especial effects on the screen. However, this arrangement also works well for stadiums, and undoubtedly carries strong emotional impact, associated for centuries with victory, majesty, and heroic deeds.
Williams’ musical style has been described by music scholars as Neo-classical and Neo-Romantic, ‘borrowing’ from composers such as Claude Debussy, Igor Stravinsky, Antonin Dvorak, Gustav Holst, Johannes Brahms, and even Richard Wagner.
Although his influence from these composers is undeniable, one can also notice in his music other important contemporary influences: from American composers, such as Aaron Copland and Elmer Bernstein, from the old Hollywood masters Max Steiner and Erich W. Korngold, as well as from his past in the Air Force, without forgetting his percussion and jazz roots.
Despite this rich musical background, Williams always seems to be willing to experiment with new sounds and instruments, to enrich even further his pool of sounds and find new sources of inspiration.
In the score he composed for the film “Images”(1972), he worked along the Japanese percussionist Stomu Yamashta to create atonal pieces of outstanding expressiveness. He inserted steel drums and marimbas in a jazz band for the cantina band music of “Star Wars”(1977).
Then, after having exhausted every expressive possibility from the traditional orchestra for Star Wars, he composed the choral score ‘Duel of the Fates’ for “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” (1999), adding the use of synthetizers to the traditional orchestra, elements which he retained for the remainder of the saga, including a Tibetan monk choir in the “SW: Revenge of the Sith”(2005).
For the score of “Amistad” (1997), he included African drums and choirs along the orchestra, and for “Memoirs of a Geisha” (2005) he worked with traditional Japanese instruments and atonal music.
The score for “Harry Potter The Prisoner of Azkaban”(2004), encapsulates Williams’ versatility masterfully. In this single score one can hear a variety of tunes: from medieval music, to circus fare, horror film music, music box tunes, and more, all blended seamlessly into his own trademark sound.
In addition to composing music for film and television, John Williams is also a distinguished composer, orchestrator and conductor.
In 1980 he was appointed principal conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, a position he occupied for 14 seasons, currently appearing as Laureate Conductor. He also makes annual appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and has conducted the New York Philharmonic at the Avery Fisher Hall, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and, of course, the London Symphony Orchestra, with which he recorded all nine scores for the “Star Wars” saga.
In January 2020, Williams was invited to conduct a selection of his film compositions with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, with rotund success.
During rehearsals, the brass section of the orchestra reportedly asked Williams to perform the Imperial March from “The Empire Strikes Back”, which was not in the original program. Williams not only agreed, but he also thanked the orchestra for their request and solid performance, which became one of the highlights of the night.
Video: John Williams & Vienna Philharmonic: Imperial March (3:50)
https://youtu.be/vsMWVW4xtwI
While well known for popular music, Williams has also composed
orchestral suites, chamber music, orchestra and wind ensembles, and
concertos for flute, violin, horn, tuba, cello, etc. His 2017 violin
concerto, “Markings”, was specifically composed for the acclaimed
classical violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, and was performed by her in a concert that included other pieces by the maestro.
Williams’ collaborations with classical musicians are not new, having worked previously with violinist Itzhak Perlman in “Schindler’s List”, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma in “Memoirs of a Geisha”. They reprised their collaborations during the first Barack Obama presidential inauguration in 2009, performing a piece especially composed by Williams for the occasion, “Air and Simple Gifts”.
Due
to the excellence in his body of work, Williams has received multiple
awards and accolades, including honorary degrees of 21 American
Universities, his induction into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame, the
Kennedy Centers Honor, the Lifetime Achievement award from the American
Film Association, and the Princess of Asturias Prize in 2020.
And yet, for all his fame and success, John Williams has remained charmingly level-headed and even humble, often accepting to appear in charities to support one of his favourite causes: orchestras.
Although film music is supposed to only accompany the scene and underscore important plot moments, the music of John Williams often breaks out from the screen, carrying the scene, and lingering in our minds well after the images on the retina have dimmed.
Some of the most memorable films of the past 40 years would not be the same without John Williams’ score: the looming threat of the predatory beast in “Jaws”, the martial rigour of the Imperial March in “Star Wars”, the cheerful escapes of Indiana Jones, the flying scene from “E.T.”, the astounding majesty living dinosaurs in “Jurassic Park”, a lone child’s Christmas wishes in “Home Alone”, the magic of “Harry Potter”, and many more.
Such is the evocative power of John Williams’ compositions, that just by listening to the music of the films he’s scored, one can ‘replay’ the scenes of the film in one’s mind, reliving it again.
His characteristic orchestration, with an emphasis on the brass section, lively violins, and fluttering flutes, bestows his film scores with a traditional, ‘classical’ feeling that many directors appreciate, and that still captures the imagination of audiences worldwide.
In his nearly 60 years of musical career, the way of creating films have changed, new technologies have arrived, different stories are being told in different ways. But throughout all these changes, the music of John Williams occupies an unforgettable space in our global consciousness, inspiring millions of devoted listeners, and new generations of musicians that feed from his growing legacy.
Just as Williams rescued the legacy of the masters from the golden era of Hollywood, new generations of musicians have already seized his torch and will continue his work, honoring his legacy and carrying it towards new horizons.
May the Force be with him, always.
To Learn More
For more information on John Williams’ career, recordings, and news, as well as a complete listing of his body of work, visit the composer’s official website:
https://johnwilliams.org
Listen to a 1985 radio interview with the maestro, discussing his work to date, and the work of the composer (57 min long):
https://www.wnyc.org/story-john-williams/
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Sources: Johnwilliams.org, IMDB, Wikipedia, CBC, NewYorker.
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